#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
“Remember: The rules, like streets, can only take you to known places.”
― Ocean Vuong
A dry and windy morning with sun breaking through clouds; we walked the new path down through the Menemsha Hills to the stairs that give us more time walking the rocks of the beach. This morning I am thinking about leaving. Not our last walk yet, but I feel the approach of the last walk, and so I walk feeling thankful and appreciative for my time here. I listen to two wonderful Guardian Books podcasts. I have not yet read Ocean Vuong’s new novel, but I ordered it today. Sometimes, when you listen to a talk about a book, an interview with the author, you end up feeling, okay, so that was interesting, but now I don’t need to read the book. But the interview with Vuong, and the commentary about the book, made me definitely want to read it.
Ocean Vuong and the new Great American Novel - books podcast
Tue 23 Jul 2019 02.00 EDT This week, the Vietnamese-born poet Ocean Vuong joins Sian to discuss his prose debut, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Taking the form of a letter written by a Vietnamese migrant to the US to his mother who can’t read English, Vuong’s novel has already been hailed as the latest Great American Novel. He shares the autobiographical roots of his book, why US citizenship begins in its foreign policy, and why so many positive words in American vernacular – smashed it, slaying, making a killing – are rooted in violence.